The Indiana Hoosiers football team is set to visit United States President Donald Trump at the White House this month after winning the 2025 College Football Playoff national title. However, it sounds like one high-profile player will not be in attendance.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy and led the Hoosiers on their undefeated rn through the 2025 season and the College Football Playoff before he was ultimately selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft back in April.
Now, Mendoza is preparing to take over as the next starting quarterback of the Raiders. For that reason, it sounds like he will not be joining his team when they visit the White House later this month. Mendoza told reporters that he “can’t miss practice” to visit the White House.
“I’m on the bottom of the totem pole here. I’ve got to prove myself,” Mendoza told reporters Saturday. “I can’t miss practice. I don’t have the calendar, but as a rookie, I don’t think that’s a good look. I want to try to best serve my teammates, and I don’t know if that’d be accomplishing that goal.”
It would have been difficult to blame Mendoza for missing a day of practice to meet the president of the United States and celebrate the national title with his teammates, especially considering that Organized Team Activities (OTAs) are strictly voluntary under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). However, Mendoza’s work ethic will simply not allow him to skip a practice.
As for his status with the team, Mendoza is competing to earn the starting quarterback job, and there will undeniably be a lot of pressure once that happens, as he works closely with seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, who is a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
We’ll have to see how Mendoza performs for the Raiders, but the work ethic displayed by this decision is already a good sign for him before he even plays his first snap.
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